The Center's Research on Home-Based Child Care

What is the Center for Home-Based Child Care Research?

The Center for Home-Based Child Care Research supports rigorous, high-quality research that is designed to support and strengthen the home-based child care (HBCC) sector across states, territories, and local community contexts. The Center provides leadership around building research capacity in the field, including the development and facilitation of local research to improve understanding of HBCC availability and use by families seeking and using HBCC.

In partnership with the Administration for Children and Families, the Center is led by Erikson Institute under the direction of Dr. Juliet Bromer and co-director Dr. Rena Hallam at the University of Delaware. The Center also partners with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Indigo Cultural Center, and the National Association for Family Child Care. The work of the Center is informed by the expertise and experiences of providers and those who support providers.

What research areas does the Center address?

The Center seeks to contribute to an understanding of the factors that influence HBCC supply and family demand and utilization of HBCC settings. The Center’s research agenda aims to inform state and local efforts to sustain and strengthen the HBCC sector and to enhance families’ choice of child care options.

The Center conducts research across three core research areas including providers’ experiences with public systems and programs, families’ experiences searching for and using HBCC, and public policies that influence the HBCC sector. See below for more detail about Center resources.

Which types of HBCC settings does the Center examine?

The Center supports research that includes the full range of formal and informal HBCC settings that care for children ages birth through 12 years in a home setting. The Center’s research includes HBCC settings that may be licensed and are often referred to as family child care as well as those settings that may be license-exempt from regulations (depending on state requirements), or unlicensed and are often referred to as family, friend, and neighbor care. Providers include those who offer HBCC in either the provider’s or child’s home, those who may be related or unrelated to children in care, as well as those who may be paid or unpaid for child care provision.

What research methods does the Center use?

The Center utilizes a range of mixed methods to study supply and demand related to the HBCC sector. For example, primary data collection includes surveys, interviews, and focus groups to understand perspectives of providers, families, and community stakeholders. The Center also conducts secondary data analysis of existing national data and state administrative data as well as review of policy documents to answer research questions regarding supply of HBCC and use of HBCC across communities and states. Across studies and methods, we use a participatory and community-based approach that recognizes the expertise of those who offer and use HBCC. For example, the Center’s Technical Work Group includes many HBCC providers who offer guidance and feedback on the Center’s research activities.

What resources are available for new HBCC evaluators and researchers to guide their understanding about HBCC and how this setting may differ from other child care and early education (CCEE) settings?

The Center’s HBCC Research Essentials Toolkit has a variety of products designed to support research and evaluation with the HBCC sector including licensed, unlicensed, and license-exempt settings.

  • A fact sheet offers a broad overview of the HBCC sector in the United States; o A terminology guide provides definitions for commonly used terms across policy, regulatory, and research contexts;
  • A terminology guide provides definitions for commonly used terms across policy, regulatory, and research contexts;
  • A considerations guide offers questions for researchers and evaluators to consider when including HBCC in study designs;
  • A conceptual framework for HBCC supply and use describes the factors, drivers, and potential outcomes of stable HBCC settings in communities;
  • A research principles document offers tips for authentic engagement with the HBCC sector in research, evaluation, and data collection.
 

Questions about the Center’s current research (2024-present)

The Center has two products from Year 1 about providers’ experiences with state licensing systems:

  • A research brief that describes findings from qualitative data collected from newly licensed providers in four states (MA, WI, CA, FL) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings suggest that providers report more challenges around paperwork and the administrative burden with the licensing process and fewer challenges around the licensing requirements related to keeping children safe and healthy.
  • A survey survey report that describes experiences of providers across the United States who are affiliated with the National Association of Family Child Care related to engaging with public systems, including state licensing systems. Findings suggest that newly licensed providers report administrative and financial challenges such paperwork and having to purchase expensive equipment along with challenges around not having enough children enrolled and understanding the process. Providers reported grants and financial support in getting started along with peer support as helpful.
  • In 2026, the Center plans to publish a data brief on the characteristics and experiences of new and established HBCC providers using the 2019 National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) data (forthcoming).
  • In 2026, additional analyses will be conducted on the characteristics and experiences of new providers using the 2024 NSECE data.
  • In 2025, the Center published a policy brief on strategies across states and local communities to support economic and financial stability in the HBCC sector. Strategies identified include wage supplements, benefits, child care assistance for providers’ own children, operational support, and including HBCC in mixed-delivery preschool programs.
  • In 2026, the Center plans to publish a fact sheet on common challenges faced by licensed family child care providers and examples of state and local solutions to address these challenges.
  • In 2025, the Center published a data highlight using the Stanford University RAPID EC database (2020-2025) to understand families’ experiences. Findings from families across the country suggest that among families who use HBCC, those who have a child with special needs report more economic and mental health challenges compared with those who do not have a child with special needs. These families report greater challenges meeting basic necessities (e.g., utilities, food, housing) and higher levels of emotional distress like depression and anxiety for both themselves and their children.
  • In 2026, the Center plans to publish a literature review on the experiences of families of children with special needs who use HBCC.

In 2026, the Center plans to conduct research to address the following questions:

  • What are the trajectories of license-exempt HBCC providers who are interested in licensing in select rural states?
  • What are the experiences of HBCC providers who participate in housing initiatives aimed at supporting HBCC supply and stability?
  • What are potential CCDF policies and initiatives that have the potential to build, stabilize, and grow the supply of licensed HBCC programs to meet the needs of working families?
  • What are the experiences of families of children with special needs searching for and using HBCC within different geographic areas within a selected state